Scripture Reading(s)
Luke 20:27-38
20:27 Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him
20:28 and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.
20:29 Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless;
20:30 then the second
20:31 and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless.
20:32 Finally the woman also died.
20:33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”
20:34 Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage;
20:35 but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.
20:36 Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.
20:37 And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
20:38 Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”
Reflections
This passage is one of many passages that we see the Sadducees attempting to entrap Jesus. They aimed to undermine any truth of God and wanted to see if they could stump Him when it came to answering their difficult questions. Their main issue was that they focused too much on the present world and not on eternity with Christ. They attempted to compare this world with what heaven might be like and gave preferences to what it is they wanted to see in heaven.
A true Christian does not set their mind on the things that are on earth. Our future goal is to ultimately end with spending eternity with Christ and finding our full satisfaction in Him alone. Whether or not we enter into marriage, make money, become popular, and fulfill all the earthly “requirements” to having a successful life, none of that matters in the light of eternity and what we will experience when we finally come face to face with our Savior.
Our satisfaction and success in this life is found in what Jesus Christ has to offer us. Our joy is not defined by what we gain on this earth. When Christ came to die and pay for our sins He gave us and showed us what it means to find true joy, happiness, peace and satisfaction in Him.
Most people assume that all the Jews believed in the heaven/hell construct. However, there was a bit of a split in the Jewish world. The poor people and the Pharisees typically believed in an afterlife. The wealthier Jews and the Sadducees did not believe in an afterlife. This large difference of opinion greatly affected how these two groups dealt with others and how they interpreted history.
In Luke 20 the Sadducees are trying to trick Jesus by walking him into a logic trap. If a woman marries multiple men in this life then who is she married to in the afterlife. Like many of the question meant to make Jesus trip stumble, He redirects their attention by pointing out that the question is invalid in the first place. The question is irrelevant because there is no marriage in heaven.
Indeed, heaven will be unlike anything we know on this earth. All physical boundaries will be removed. As Paul mentions to the Corinthians,
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully (1 Corinthians 13:12)
Heaven is very real and we are blessed in knowing that we have a place there waiting for us. May we always behave in a way that is worthy of the gift we have been given by the Lord.